Chapter Six Summary

The Ringle arrives at The Berlings to find Jack putting the fleet through its paces in a series of tough military drills. Captain Thomas of the Thames, a neat and orderly man who slave-drives his men to keep his ship spotless and orderly but whose military credentials are suspect, is furious at what he sees as the Commodore questioning the military readiness of his crew.

Stephen boards the Ballona and finds Jack in a foul mood because of the general poor performance of the ships in the exercise. Stephen tells Jack little of his flight, though he spends a great deal of time telling his friend of the many seabirds he saw on the way from Carunna. Jack repeats the drill on Ballona to show the other ships what times he expects and his experienced crew performs much better.

Stephen looks in on Mr. Gray...